A howling wolf, a stalking tiger, a playful panda, a dancing bird - pairing the stunning photography of National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore with the delicate poetry of Newbery award-winning author Kwame Alexander, this lush picture book celebrates the beauty, diversity, and fragility of the animal world.

Featuring more than 40 unique animal portraits, the pages invite kids to explore each creature's markings, textures, and attributes in stunning detail, while calling on all of us to help protect each and every one. Three picture-packed gatefolds inside showcase even more familiar and exotic species. These images are part of Sartore's lifelong project to photograph every animal in the world, with special attention given to disappearing and endangered species.

My Thoughts

This book is breathtaking in its simplicity. Who needs frills when you have gorgeous photographs of animals on stark backgrounds with the poetry magic of Kwame Alexander? I swear, ONLY Kwame Alexander can write a short poem about centipedes, bats, beetles and sea urchins and make them sound like the most exquisite creatures in the world. What a wonderful way to introduce little ones to the beauty of poetry.

National Geographic photographer, Joel Sartore's photographs are so clear and close, you can see every little leg, whisker, scale and feather. Somehow he even manages to make an alligator and a chameleon look majestic. I think my favorite photo is the baby pandas with one resting its head on the other, but really each photo is better than the next.

Animal Ark is a must-have for any library. I love it so much and can't wait to share it with kids. I can see them hunched over as they examine the photos of these fascinating animals more closely.

This video of Kwame talking about animals will give you goosebumps. I could listen to him all day long.